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Viva Mexicana Raw Style!

When I started alleviating wheat, grains, soy, dairy, legumes, peanuts, processed sugar and alcohol from my life -- I needed to find recipes that would include the foods I could eat and that would be tasty and satisfying. I know it sounds like giving up those 8 types of food, there's ABSOLUTELY NOTHING left to eat; but believe me . . . there definitely is. I also needed recipes that the whole family would enjoy and that I could package up and bring to work for lunch (or school).
One of the first recipes I tried was Diana Stobo's Taco's. I was so afraid to prepare this. Anything new is intimidating and preparing "uncooked" foods with ingredients that you're not used to can be challenging. When I checked her recipes, I found that I had most of the ingredients, plus I had the main kitchen tool which was a food processor. Thank goodness an aunt of mine bought this for me 27 years ago as an "engagement" gift. I probably used it a handful of times in the 27 years since. Within the past year, however, I use it a couple of times per week.
I like to get a different "spin" on recipes, so eventhough I have my "go-to" recipes -- I like to see if anyone is doing it a little differently. It's nice to spice things up once in a while. Here's a recipe from Sarah Britton. She has a Blog called My New Roots . She also includes a recipe for a Cashew Sour Cream and Salsa on the same page. Make all three -- have a feast!!!!
[caption id="attachment_922" align="alignright" width="150"] Raw Tacos[/caption]
If you want to get adventurous (and I have NOT attempted these yet), I am including a recipe for RAW Taco Shells from Goddess In the Raw! I plan on "attempting" to make these probably after the Holidays. Keep in mind, you do need a food dehydrator which most people do not have. I would not run out and buy one just for this recipe. You can probably attempt to do this on the lowest setting of your oven and keeping the oven door ajar OR, I have found that my Convection Toaster Oven has a "dehydrator" setting. I haven't tried that yet. Also as a side-note, I bought my dehydrator at a Garage Sale for practically nothing. I bought a bunch of stuff for about $25, so I would say my dehydrator cost less than $5.
[caption id="attachment_925" align="aligncenter" width="150"] Raw Taco Shells[/caption]
Try making Taco's for yourself! It's really easy, delicious and filling!
Whichever recipe you choose to try (and you may have your own or search for another RAW Taco Recipe on the Internet) the most important thing is that you

Green was never one of my favorite colors! It is now!!!! This is how it all started for me -- with Diana Stobo's Green Juice! I need to share this video with you.
Here's to one of my all time favorites and Raw Enthusiast Diana Stobo . . . (click on Diana's name).
If anyone wants to start feeling better -- please -- drink your greens!!!!!! And feel free to look Diana up on line and sign up for her newsletter's or for her Naked Challenge!!

I have always been concerned and aware of health and fitness. I would constantly read up on the latest food trends and articles and followed them religiously, yet I could never lose weight. I was always bloated and then when I hit 50 – the joints went. My doctors said I should eat soy, whole grains, dairy, beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables (the colors of the rainbow) and so I did. I always worked out and really thought I was doing something wonderful for myself. I attributed the extra weight and aches to getting older. My catchphrase was “I work very hard at staying chunky. If I didn't work this hard, I’d be obese”! Also, as an aside, I hadn't slept in 3 years due to the aches and pains in my knees and wrist (doc said it was arthritis). I would toss and turn all night trying to find a comfortable position. I'd wake up tired and irritable.

Then around January 2012, a lot of my friends were starting on the Paleo Diet. It sounded interesting to me and all they ask is that you try it for 30 days. I figured I could invest 30 days. What have I got to lose? I wasn't paying attention to it, but what I realized after the 3rd day is that I slept through the entire night. I thought there must be something really phenomenal going on here. My aches and pains were gone (and so were my soy, grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar and alcohol). I wasn't really losing weight at that point, but I felt so much healthy that I didn't care.

On Paleo, you can make your own Almond Milk. So I purchased a milk bag on Amazon just willy nilly. It was one of Diana Stobo's milk bags. When I read the label that was on Diana’s milk bag, it had her website on it (dianastobo.com) so out of curiosity, I checked it out.
Diana Stobo is a Raw Enthusiast who wrote "Get Naked Fast" and "The Naked Challenge". I read what she had to say and I listened to what she was saying! That was it for me! Something about eating raw was so utterly fascinating to me – I had to try it. And I did. And then I became “crazed”. I needed to find out everything I could about living raw. I'd go to the library and take out tons of books. I googled and googled and googled and found so many wonderful websites, blogs and articles related to eating raw. It’s so exciting!

I have never had as much stamina and passion as I have these days. I've always done Zumba workouts and always had to stop, take a rest, drink some water, die, etc. I now do the full 1 hour aerobic workout non-stop 4 times a week. You should see the wonderful sweat I work up with that workout. I am almost 54 years old and I can keep up with the younger ones. I look forward to my Zumba classes.

People are noticing a change in me (it’s now been about 10 months – it’s not a drastic change, but it’s noticeable) and I love talking to them about my eating habits (I never call this a diet) and love making certain dishes for them to try.

Once I realized that a lot of people were interested in what I was doing and wanted to know how to do it themselves, I contacted some of my RAW Enthusiast contacts and asked them if they thought that if I started a blog which would document my journey while sharing tips, recipes and knowledge from these people - did they think it would work and how would they feel if I did that?

The response from each and every one of them was simply this . . .

Just Go For It!!!

And so . . . I am!!

*I will be sharing websites and recipes from many bloggers and experts on Raw Food, Paleo Diet, Gluten-Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Allergy Free, Wheat Free, Legume Free and Refined Sugar Free as well as a myriad of workout experts/enthusiasts. I also hope to have guest Blogger's sharing their journey and expertise as well on a myriad of different topics.

Tomato Basil Pizza Bread

I made this recipe from Diana Stobo's Naked Challenge Recipes www.thenakedchallenge.com. Great source of information if you're just started out eating RAW. There is a minimal monthly minimal fee to join (which is so worth it) and if you choose to do the 10-day Challenge with her (lose 10 pounds in 10 days!!) -- there's an additional fee, but a discount is applied if you're a Member of The Naked Zone. I started by sprouting some sunflower seeds. That's a technique I was afraid to try because it sounded too complicated and scary. But I finally caved in and tried it and it worked! I now sprout a lot of different seeds and nuts.After 2-3 days, I added the sunflower seeds to the rest of the ingredients -- almond meal, fresh tomatoes, fresh (home-grown) basil, fresh garlic and sea salt and combined them in my food processor.

Once it's creamy, I added it to my Nesco Dehyrador and put it on 3 paraffin sheets (see below). I dehydrated it at 145 degrees for 2 hours and then reduced it to 115 degrees for 24 -36 hours.This is the end result! Absolutely the BEST cracker/bread I've ever tasted!